Tile Appointment Done!

We had our appointment at Beaumont Tiles today. We had already visited them a little over a month ago and had checked out the standard range that JG King had on offer.  This, of course, was all prior to our colour appointment with JG King so when we visited Beaumont Tiles this time round, the tiles we selected in the first place were no longer really suited to what we wanted.

As we are getting floating floors throughout the main part of the house, we only needed to select tiles for the Bathrooms and the Laundry.  Because of this our tile selection was a little different. We ended up choosing 450mm x 450mm Tiles for the flooring, and a pretty standard white wall tile which had slight indents in it for its feature.  The Consultant was very helpful and she ended up comparing a whole lot of the tiles until we made up our minds. She pointed out a little feature of the floor tiles being used around the bath tub so once she showed us a display of what that looked like, we decided to go with that too.

We then selected a darker grout colouring for the floor tiles as upon looking at some of the displays, it made the tiles more of a feature.

Once done the consultant took us through all of our choices and we agreed to the extra costing... a whopping $16.00, which we were happy with, and we signed the paperwork. They will now forward this back to JG King and hopefully all will start moving forward from here!

Colour Apointment DONE!

All I have to say is Oh My Gosh!! I was thinking the colour appointment was going to be quick and simple, about 45 minutes, Tops.  We had an idea of what we wanted but in the end, I don't think we realised just how many things there are to pick and the amount of colour selection for them.While we've been waiting for the Preliminary Drawings, J.G King have booked us in to choose our colours.

Below are the colours we chose for the Exterior of the house.

Next came the Kitchen Bench and cupboards for Both the En-suit and Bathroom. We chose the Darker Colour for the Kitchen and the lighter for the Bathrooms:

 We were going to have tiles throughout the house but ended up going with floating floors.  We just prefered the design and colour:

I wanted to make sure we had a nice Front entrance so we upgraded the door and I chose Jarrah Stain for the colour:

Finally was the carpet and wall paint:

We also had the glass splash-back in the kitchen but I forgot to take a photo of it. We then made an appointment to go see Beaumont Tiles but that is next month.  Hoping we get the preliminary drawings through before then.

Anyway, 2 and a half hours later, we were done.  I think I'm happy with the selection so here's hoping it looks as good in real life as it does in my head.

Site Test Results are in!

That was quicker then expected.  I got a call a couple of days ago from J.G King's Office and have been sent our site report.

This was where my heart stopped.

It's a P Class site.

I had to do sooooo much research into finding out what this would mean as we have an M class included in the quote.

Anyway. The Site Report test recommends an M Class Slab with re-enforced edge beams. I'm not really entirely sure what that entails but I've been reading up about nightmare stories where some sites have cost $50,000 extra!!!??? OUCH!

Friends of our recently moved into their newly build home in Jacksons View in Druin (Near Warragul).

They told me their report came back and they needed cut and fill, and a H2 class slab.  They got a whole heap of piers and some of them needed to go 9 Meters deep!!!  Their site costs and Slab added an extra $38,000 to their home!

Other Friends of ours built a double Story on a P class site and theirs came to $18,000.

I'm feeling a little easier as our soil test was terminated after 2000mm so no 9 meter deep Piers.  I also can't find where it says we need any piers for a concrete slab so I have my fingers crossed but am trying to not get my hopes up until AFTER we get the first draft of the contract. Also very little cut and fill if any will be needed so hope that keeps the costs down.

In the meantime, I sent J.G. King a copy of the controlled fill/compacting report for my block.  Let's hope it all comes back without exuberant costs added for the slab.

Deposit Down, Pre-lim Quotes Signed

We've met with Mr K and signed the quotes and basic documents.  Put down the a deposit and now have to wait for the Soil Test, then move onto the design of the slab, and then the first official draft of The Contracts for The Memphis.

We've been told about 4 - 5 weeks or so.  I know there's all sorts of delays but we'll see.  Now it's the waiting game. Things are getting exciting... but at the same time I'm really starting to stress.  I know of all the issues that go hand in hand with building so I am dreading, and expecting the worse.

Fingers Crossed!

What Happened?

I don't get it.  I did a whole heap of research and everywhere I read I found that volume builders just don't do deals. I mean, they have their specials, but anything more then that, you'd be lucky for them to through in something for free.

Well, this was not the case for us.  We got a discount AND they threw in free 40mm Caesar Stone Bench tops.  The quote came in to the budget I wanted???  I know the sales people have to make sales and all but this is great news.  At least, I know we need to pay for all the extra things, like temp fencing, soil tests and then having the Slab meet certain grades... any cement pumps, etc... This budget at the price given will hopefully be enough to give us this extra buffer of cash to cover these hidden extras!

Well, now we are arranging to meet with Mr K and sign up, put the basic deposit down and get all the soil tests done.  Here's hoping things go smoothly from here.

Got the Quotes

We got the last of our quotes last night.  I wanted to get J.G King's - the Memphis last so I had all the quotes and could compare.

I have to admit, I was a little disappointed with their quote.  I sent an email back to Mr K (their sales rep), who mind you has been really good with dealing with us over the last year and a bit.

I let him know I was not happy and said the other quotes I got came in much better priced with larger homes, including the upgrades we wanted and site costs plus Bush Fire Rating etc.

I gave him my upper limit and said I can not pay any more.  Will wait to hear from him if anything can be done.  We have to really consider if the price from J.G King is worth it or go with one of the other homes we like.  My heart is set with The Memphis so it will be a real disappointment if we can't get our deal.

Such a long process...

I've just realised we have been searching for over a year. Wow. I guess we really do want to choose the right house for us... We do intend to live in it for at least 10 years so why not make sure it's perfect! Well, that's the plan anyway.

We've got a fair few quotes and are getting hounded by builders left right and centre. Everyone really wants our business.

We still have another quote or 2 to get before really making our decision. I'm still leaning towards The Memphis but with all these offers and great deals, I am very interested in these other homes.

Also, there's now speculation that the First Home Builders grant is going to be $10,000 starting 1st July... interesting...

Well I'll keep you posted as it's getting really close for us to put down a deposit.